Cheil Worldwide Inc. is a Seoul, Korea-based marketing communications firm. Established in 1973, it operates 51 offices in 28 countries with about 3,000 employees.

Led by CEO Brad Brinegar, McKinney will maintain its name, its leadership team and headquarters in Durham.

McKinney, which has about 200 employees, is now part of Cheil Americas, a regional network of agency partners led by CEO Buz Sawyer.

“This isn’t just another financial transaction in a summer of consolidation, though Cheil will provide McKinney with rocket fuel to take their business to the next level,” said Sawyer. “I’ve found a soul mate in Brad Brinegar, and McKinney is the ideal strategic partner to reinvent Cheil’s network in the Americas and beyond.”

Brinegar said that the deal has been in the works for about six months.

“I really like Buz and I think we can do great business together,” Brinegar says. “This is a hard and crazy business – and it’s better when doing it with a friend.”

Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed in the news release. Asked about the New York Times’ estimate of $50 million, Brinegar says he doesn’t know where that number came from.

David C. Wiener & Co. served as financial adviser to Cheil Worldwide in the transaction. McKinney was represented by Palazzo.